First I thought that the axe were meant to symbolise the upcomming execution, but then I noticed the title, and it is probably related to something that happened in the past.

Actually, how DO they execute people on Gaia? Beheading seems way to violent for their civilised community, at least with an axe. Maaaaybe they would use a guillotine if Novil is really desparate to have the cool-looking executioner with the black hood.

@ Mr_Nabby:
I think an axe would be the go-to item. No community with crime, no matter how civilized, is without a sense of bloodlust. Hell, look at Ancient Rome. Gladiator fights were the main form of entertainment.

I assume that this chapter will mostly be about the Shadowdancers attempt to break Lilith out of jail. And if we also assume that this chapter will be as long as Chapter 2 (92 pages!) that would leave enough time for them to bring her back to the hideout.

There she will open Viviana’s casket (maybe even by using the spell she has been practising in the cell), and they will find this letter in there! And that means we might get some backstory about Cania’s conquering of Ileasaar, or Viviana’s origin.

@ Renadt:
Actually, I think the axe with blood is suppose to represent someone’s execution which is why there is a small …umm… what do you call those anyway? I know its what they put the person’s head on to allow the executioner to aim. But, I wonder, do we know anyone that is about to be executed? *cough*Lili*cough*

Yes, but a society that is capable to create robots should at least have some more “sophisticated” methods of executions. Methods like hanging or the guillotine are less likely to be exposed to prolonged suffering due to human error. We wouldn’t want Lilith to end up like “Nearly Headless Nick” from the Harry Potter books, who was beheaded with a blunt axe and took 45 chops to the neck before dying.

@ CDRom11:
The word I think you’re looking for is “chopping block.”
Also, does anyone else feel like this should be an epic-style (rock) ballad? That may just be because the title made me think of “the ballad of Jed Clampett,” but I stand by my statement; this would make a great song title!

Guillotining is probably the most humane method of execution currently available, generally causing death (in mice) within 200 milliseconds. Beheading with a sharp axe ought to be almost as neat. Beheading with a blunt instrument swung with little force is obviously ineffective (primarily due to the considerable resilience and tensile strength of skin), but taking 45 blows to kill someone is ridiculous. While it might possibly take that many blows to remove the head, death is virtually instantaneous when the brain stem is damaged. Any blow with a heavy weight (for example, your own falling body acting through a well-placed knot) or a sharp blade aimed at the second and third vertebrae ought to be immediately fatal. Deaths by strangulation from hanging or blood loss from beheading are due to incompetence.

Note that most of Gaia’s technology is magitech and that the most advanced groups (the Academy, the Shadowdancers) are hugely ahead of the common people. You don’t generally get things like humane treatment of prisoners until there is a powerful social group behind it and execution practices are likely to be uniform: that is, notorious terrorists like Lilith will be treated the same way common bandits are. Public hangings were still happening in developed nations in the 20th century and the first human and animal rights pressure groups were formed in Victorian England. Cania is nowhere near that stage of social development. It’s much more likely that executions are seen as entertainment than as objects of concern. People used to make short trips and bring their children to see hangings, and food and ballads would generally be peddled to the crowd when a noted criminal was executed.

SD 076 suggests that Lilith is to be executed as we might expect: a hanging within a heavily-guarded execution yard, as befits a dangerous mage.

There she will open Viviana’s casket (maybe even by using the spell she has been practising in the cell), and they will find this letter in there! And that means we might get some backstory about Cania’s conquering of Ileasaar, or Viviana’s origin.

Right, yet another name I can’t keep track of that sounds like all the other names. Sorry,I used to be good at keeping track of names in 19th c Russian novels, patronymics and all. But frankly I’ve had it.

@ Mr_Nabby:
if you want it done quick, clean, and nice, They could let her cell run out of air. the door in the past strip looked designed for that.

What a HORRIBLE way to execute someone! That would practically be torture, to trap someone in a closed room and let them suffocate to death, with the long- drawn out fear and panic for the victim.
Hey, I have a better idea! Why don’t they fill the room with water and let the victims drown? That way the room would get nice and clean for the next prisoner. 😉